User blog:Granpa/Empires
From Wikipedia:Ancient Egypt The New Kingdom pharaohs from '-1549' to '-1069' established a period of unprecedented prosperity by securing their borders and strengthening diplomatic ties with their neighbours, including the Mitanni Empire, Assyria, and Canaan. Military campaigns waged under Tuthmosis I and his grandson Tuthmosis III extended the influence of the pharaohs to the largest empire Egypt had ever seen. Egypt's wealth, however, made it a tempting target for invasion. The effects of external threats were exacerbated by internal problems such as corruption, tomb robbery, and civil unrest. From Wikipedia:Carthaginian Iberia The Phoenicians founded the city of Carthage in '-814'. Carthage annexed territory in Sicily, Africa, Sardinia and in '-575 ', they created colonies on the Iberian peninsula. From Wikipedia:Persian Empire The first dynasty of the Persian Empire was created by Achaemenids, established by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. From Wikipedia:Alexander the Great Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. In '-334', he invaded the Achaemenid Empire (Persian Empire) and overthrew Persian King Darius III and conquered the Achaemenid Empire in its entirety. He invaded India in '-326'. From Wikipedia:Punic Wars The Punic (Phoenician) Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from '-264' to '-146'. Rome conquered Carthage's empire, completely destroyed the city, and became the most powerful state of the Western Mediterranean. From Wikipedia:Byzantine Empire Theodosius I (379–395) was the last Emperor to rule both the Eastern and Western halves of the Empire. He issued a series of edicts essentially banning pagan religion. To fend off the Huns, Theodosius had to pay an enormous annual tribute to Attila. From Wikipedia:Huns By 430 the Huns had established a vast, if short-lived, dominion in Europe. After Attila's death in 453, the Hunnic Empire collapsed, and many of the remaining Huns were often hired as mercenaries by Constantinople. Roman historian Procopius of Caesarea, related the Huns of Europe with the Hephthalites or "White Huns" who subjugated the Sassanids and invaded northwestern India. He contrasted the Huns with the Hephthalites, in that the Hephthalites were sedentary, white-skinned, and possessed "not ugly" features. In 476 Romulus, the last of the Roman emperors in the west, was overthrown by the Germanic leader Odoacer, who became the first Barbarian to rule in Rome. The Slavs under name of the Antes and the Sclaveni make their first appearance in the early 500s emerging from the area of the Carpathian Mountains, the lower Danube and the Black Sea.Wikipedia:Slavs From Wikipedia:Early Muslim conquests In late 620s Muhammad had already managed to conquer and unify much of Arabia under Muslim rule. Muhammad died in 632. From Wikipedia:Rashidun Caliphate The Rashidun Caliphate (632–661) was the first of the four major caliphates. The Rashidun Caliphate is characterized by a twenty-five year period of rapid military expansion, followed by a five-year period of internal strife. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs. Shia Muslims do not consider the rule of the first three caliphs as legitimate. The Muslim conquest of Persia, also known as the Arab conquest of Iran, led to the end of the Sasanian Empire in 651 and the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion in Iran (Persia).Wikipedia:Muslim conquest of Persia From Wikipedia:Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate (661) was the second of the four major caliphates. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests incorporating the Transoxiana, Sindh, the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) into the Muslim world. Christian and Jewish population still had autonomy. From Wikipedia:Khazars The Khazars were a semi-nomadic Turkic people. Khazaria long served as a buffer state between the Byzantine Empire and both the nomads of the northern steppes and the Umayyad Caliphate. :The original Bulgars were Turkic steppe nomads who lived north of the Black Sea. Old Great Bulgaria was absorbed by the Khazar Empire in 668 AD. Bulgar tribes led by Asparukh moved to the north-eastern Balkans founded the First Bulgarian Empire circa 681.Wikipedia:First Bulgarian Empire and Wikipedia:Bulgars The ruling elite of the Khazars were said by Judah Halevi and Abraham ibn Daud to have converted to Rabbinic Judaism in the 700s. :From Wikipedia:Kievan Rus' and Wikipedia:Rus' people :The Rus' were Norsemen who had relocated "from over sea". The modern peoples of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine all claim Kievan Rus' as their cultural ancestors. Controversy persists over whether the Rus' were Varangians (Vikings) or Slavs. Leo the Deacon, a Byzantine historian and chronicler, refers to the Rus' as "Scythians" and notes that they tended to adopt Greek rituals and customs. From Wikipedia:Battle of Tours In October 732, the army of the Umayyad Caliphate led by Al Ghafiqi met Frankish and Burgundian forces under Charles Martel in an area between the cities of Tours and Poitiers (modern north-central France), leading to a decisive, historically important Frankish victory known as the Battle of Tours. From Wikipedia:Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate (750) was the third of the Islamic caliphates. Abu al-'Abbas as-Saffah defeated the Umayyads in 750. Immediately after their victory, As-Saffah sent his forces to Central Asia, where his forces fought against Tang dynasty expansion during the Battle of Talas. Under Al-Mansur the empire's capital was moved from Damascus, in Syria, to Baghdad. Eventually they were forced to cede authority over Al-Andalus (Spain) and the Maghreb (Northwest Africa) to the Umayyads. Abbasid leadership over the vast Islamic empire was gradually reduced to a ceremonial religious function. From Wikipedia:Charlemagne Emperor Charlemagne (800-814) united much of western and central Europe during the early Middle Ages. He was the first recognized emperor to rule from western Europe since the fall of Rome. The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation began with Otto I in 962. Back to top |} Category:Blog posts